A. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to data printers and, more particularly, to impact type data printers using print bands as the print elements.
B. Prior Art
Data printers print data on a record medium such as paper. Such printers are used extensively in the data processing industry to provide "hard-copy" output from computers and other equipment.
Impact type data printers forcibly strike a type font against a ribbon and then against the paper to imprint the individual characters comprising the data. Although these printers are capable of obtaining high print rates, they are typically large, bulky, complicated, and noisy. Thus, they are not generally suitable for placement in office environments and are typically isolated in a noise-shielded area. Further, these printers are also typically complex (and costly) therefore, and even routine maintenance can be quite time consuming. Additionally, their complexity can contribute to decreased reliability.
In printers, using ribbons as the character-forming element, the ribbon must be renewed periodically. Desirably, this is simple enough to be performed by the users of the equipment and not to require special maintenance personnel. Further, the ribbon change should be as simple as possible so that even inexperienced personnel can attend to it. In changing ribbons, however, direct contact with ink surfaces of the ribbon is often a problem, and ink smudges are often left on the operator, the machine, or the record medium during ribbon changing. The use of ribbon cassettes has been quite helpful in minimizing smudging problems, but has not altogether alleviated them. Additionally, many such cassettes are bulky and inconvenient to handle or store.